Crossing Borders - Building Futures

Connecting People to Restore Just Relations

Why restorative justice matters?

"Restorative justice matters because respect for human dignity matters, solidarity within diverse societies matter, justice matters and truth matters." - Watch Tim Chapman (former Chair of the EFRJ Board) outlining the significance of restorative justice for our societies today in the first part of our short video series. 

Restorative Justice is an approach of addressing harm or the risk of harm through engaging all those affected in coming to a common understanding and agreement on how the harm or wrongdoing can be repaired and justice achieved.
The European Forum for Restorative Justice aims to help establish and develop victim-offender mediation and other restorative justice practices. Every person in Europe should have the right of access to restorative justice services, at any time and in any case.
Want to learn more? Follow these links.

The 2025 Restorative Justice Week will take place between 16-22 November 2025. 
Get prepared for the campaign! 

Editors Claudia Christen-Schneider and Emily Molinari introduce the 3rd issue the EFRJ's Newsletter Volume 25 in their Editorial. 

In this article, Shiri Ourian reflects on the transformative work of the Parents Circle — Families Forum, an organisation uniting bereaved Israelis and Palestinians in the pursuit of reconciliation. Through powerful personal stories of loss and forgiveness, Ourian illustrates how restorative justice can break down deep-seated divisions and foster empathy in the midst of conflict. By emphasising the shared humanity behind the pain of loss, the Parents Circle offers a beacon of hope for a peaceful, justice-centered future, even in the most polarized and violent contexts.

Join other trainers at the second Restorative Trainers' Retreat in Kortrijk, Belgium between 8-11 September 2025. This special event invies trainers to share practices, challenges, inspiring ideas and activities and model the art and craft of training delivery with a restorative mindset. This year's theme focuses on the use stories and narratives in training. 

Join the upcoming five-part online course on restorative evaluation with Dr Terence Bevington. The online lessons will take place every two weeks, to give you the time to reflect, apply what you are learning in your own context, and return with fresh insights and questions to deepen the shared learning.

REstART is a festival on the arts of justice and repair. In 2025, REstART celebrates the first 25 years of the European Forum for Restorative Justice. Join us in Leuven on 6-9 December 2025! Tickets will be sold starting from September.

Save the date! We are excited to announce that the 13th International Conference of the European Forum for Restorative Justice will take place between 11–13 June 2026 in Poznań, Poland, hosted by the Faculty of Psychology and Law at SWPS University, and organised in collaboration with the university and the European Mediation Institute.

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REstART is a unique international festival that merges art and restorative justice to inspire dialogue and transformation. Join us in Leuven on 6-9 December 2025 to celebrate th 25th anniversary of the European Forum for Restorative Justice! Follow us on social media with #REstARTFestival #RestorativeJustice #ArtForChange #Leuven #EFRJ2025 #EFRJ25

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The “Leuven International Short Film Festival” launched a call for submissions including restorative justice as part of the festival’s non-competitive thematic programme! Short films (max. 35 min) can be submitted until 15 August (early bird deadline: 15 April).

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Strengthened by research findings as well as practice experiences, the European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ) believes that each victim should have the possibility to freely and voluntarily decide to start a safe and high-quality restorative justice process.